The gap between the Americans and the Afghan government had never been as pronounced as it is after the Quran burning episode in Afghanistan and the killing of at least 17 Afghans by a US soldier last month. Surely, what the Americans had set out to achieve in Afghanistan and the strategy that was to be employed has undergone many changes to evolve into one that is not completely workable. To dismantle Al-Qaeda and reversing the Taliban momentum by use of superior military might, along with surges of troops and well organized military operations that were to be followed soon after by rebuilding and rehabilitation measures became a pipedream for US/Allied soldiers in Afghanistan.
In eradicating militancy, the option of clearing some terrorist sanctuaries while leaving a few behind such as those in Kunar and Nuristan, cannot be translated as success either partial or complete. Surely, the recent spate of violent extremism launched this spring by the terrorists in Afghanistan can be translated as the result of partial eradication of terrorism. The security situation in Afghanistan speaks for itself and blatantly refutes the fact that things are under control. Partial success was being trumpeted as the US and Taliban had embarked upon the journey of reconciliation while those playing central stood at the margins wondering what they had done wrong this time round to deserve such isolation.
Amazingly, with minimum loss and no significant achievement to their credit, the demotivated US/allied forces declare themselves triumphant in certain aspects. Can wars be won partially? Or can victory be achieved to some degree? Partial victory means that not all objectives have been achieved by the super power in Afghanistan, which means that the situations hasn’t altered much and that the country will sink back precisely to what it was before the US decided to barge in with destruction and devastation as a by-product of war, thus completing a full circle bringing Afghanistan to where it had been a decade ago. Victory to all!
PROFESSOR KABIL KHAN
Peshawar
